Juan Carlos Perez

A lawsuit that sought to establish as illegal several core functions of Google Inc.'s search engine has been dismissed, a boost to the company as it defends itself against similar allegations in other cases.

Google Inc. will likely have to turn over search-engine usage records to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) following a hearing Tuesday in which the judge indicated he will probably order the company to comply with a government subpoena, according to published reports.

Google Inc. has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought against it over the issue of click fraud, which some industry experts believe could seriously threaten the company's main source of revenue: pay-per-click advertising. Google will pay as much as US$90 million to affected advertisers in attorneys' fees and credits as part of the settlement.

Google Inc. is adding e-commerce transaction capabilities to its Google Base service, providing a platform for buyers to purchase items from sellers using credit cards.

Google Inc. is testing a program to offer Gmail as an enterprise hosted e-mail service, thus extending the scope of this Web mail service from individuals to the realm of businesses, universities and other organizations.

A plan from Yahoo Inc. and America Online Inc. (AOL) to adopt an e-mail certification system that charges mass mailers a per-message fee is stirring concern in the market.

Google Inc. plans to release on Monday an improved test version of its browser toolbar whose functionality can be extended with custom buttons. With these buttons, users can search Web sites directly from the new Google Toolbar 4 Beta. The buttons can also be used to link to Web sites and display syndicated feeds.

IBM Corp. unveiled an improved version of its Sametime enterprise IM (instant-message) platform Monday, announcing integration with public IM services from America Online Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. Lotus Sametime 7.5, slated for mid-2006, will have a new multiprotocol gateway that will allow its users to communicate with those on public IM networks, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, AOL's AIM and ICQ and Apple Computer Inc.'s iChat.